Parenthood
by JadeAshes
Summary: BB's sister dies, leaving the Teen Titans the guardians of her 4 yr old, 2yr old & 4 new borns. The TTs r gonna b rippin out hair soon. RS BBR CyJinx A bit of tradegy to start off with. UP FOR ADOPTION!
1. The Worst News You Could Ever Hear

WARNING: The beginning of this story will begin with a death, maybe a few. But don't worry; none of the Titans will die. If any do, the author is **NOT** responsible.

Disclaimer: Nope. You know, I getting kind'a tired with this line. I think I'll jazz it up next chapter

Now that we have that out of the way, we can proceed. Join the Teen Titans as they go on their scariest and most dangerous journey yet. It's more dangerous than Slade, and more frightening than Trigon. Join the team as they face (Dun, dun, dun, dun, DUN!)…

…**Parenthood**

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**Part One: Sorrow and Tears**

**The Worst News You Could Ever Hear**

Peace. _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos._ Quiet. _Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos._ Tranquility. _Azarath, Metri_—

_Brinnnng, brinnnng, brinnnng!_ "Ahhh!" Raven screamed as she fell from her levitating position four feet above the common-room floor.

"I got it!" Cyborg yelled as he jumped up from the table where he had been eating a stake and ran for the phone.

"No, I do!" shrieked Beast Boy as he dropped his tofu-laden fork and leapt up.

Robin side-stepped neatly from the counter and picked up the receiver. He grinned at his fellow boys as he spoke into the Tower phone. "Hello, Titans Tower." His team mates gathered around him quizzically.

"Um, please wait a moment." Robin covered the mouth piece with his hand and turned to his friends. "Does anyone here have the name of Garfield Mark?"

No one answered. Then Beast Boy asked "Who is it?"

"Um, who am I speaking to?" The Boy Wonder nodded then relayed the answer to the others. "It's a Mr. Johnson, the lawyer of a Marissa Mary Logan." The words had barely left his mouth when the phone was snatched away from him by Beast Boy.

"This is Garfield Mark, what's wrong?" the changeling asked quickly and apprehensively. For a few seconds he just listened, his emerald eyes widening in shock. "Oh", his hand flew to his mouth to suppress a gasp. "Oh my god! I—I didn't know!" he stammered as his friends listened. Then he listened to the Mr. Johnson, his face growing paler with each word.

After a small number of minutes, Beast Boy spoke again. "Th—thank you, for… your concern." Quiet. "No" came the green teen's sorrowful response. "No need for that. I'll…manage.

"I think…I need to…good-bye" and with that Beast Boy hung up. The cordless phone fell from his now-limp fingers and clattered to the ground. He slumped against the wall he had been standing in front of and proceeded to slide to the floor.

"Beast Boy, is everything alright?" Cyborg stepped towards his elfish friend, who had his eyes squeezed shut as if to block off the sight of the world.

"Friend Beast Boy" Starfire spoke as she drifted over to float to the left of Cyborg. "Why do you not answer us?"

Then quite suddenly Beast Boy stood up, but kept his head bent so his face was hidden. "I'll do dishes" he announced softly as he approached the sink. "You guys go, I'll finish cleaning up" and with that Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, and Robin watched with shock as their green-skinned teammate scrubbed the plates and bowls with a perturbing vigor.

------

After he had finished the lunch chores, Beast Boy had proceeded to sweep and scrub the kitchen floor. Then he went on and vacuumed, polished, and dusted the entire common room. Next he had organized the video games and music, and was currently in his room.

The vacuum had just started up again when Cyborg had had all he could take. "Okay" he said standing up. "I absolutely can NOT take any more of this neat-freak attitude!"

"Yeah" Robin agreed as he turned around from the computer screen he had been observing. "I always wanted Beast Boy to start being neater, but this goes too far."

"Do you think he's acting this way because of that phone call earlier?" Raven asked as she placed down her latest book.

"It is possible that the transmission has upset our friend, yes?" Starfire looked over at Raven, who nodded her agreement.

"You think we should talk to him, Robin?" Cyborg asked after a brief pause.

"I don't know" was the leader's answer. "Beast Boy's never acted this way before and I'm not quite sure what to make of it."

"Well I'm going to have a talk with him." The others looked over at Raven in surprise. "I'm **NOT** going to have him organizing **MY** room and digging into **MY** stuff. Under no circumstances will he be allowed to do **THAT**."

The vacuum had been quiet for a few minutes now when Robin spoke again. "Let's go check on him" and he led the way to the changeling's room.

When they reached the door, no one was sure what to do. They just sort of stood there fidgeting. Finally Cyborg knocked on the door and called out. "Beast Boy", he received no answer. "Can we come in?"

"No!" The teenaged group jumped at the sudden sharpness in a normally cheerful voice.

"Beast Boy, we simply wish to assist you" Starfire called through the titanium door.

"Go away!" was the reply.

"Oh, to heck with this" Raven said exasperatedly as she marched forward. Point two three seconds later she had blown the door open and had strode angrily into the room. The remaining three Titans rapidly followed her.

"I told you not to come in" Beast Boy said sourly from his desk which he was polishing with force.

"Yah, well…" Cyborg began his retort but trailed into silence as he took note of the shape-shifter's room. You could see the floor! The comic books were arranged by the date they were released on a shelf, and there were neat stacks of papers and documents on another shelf.

When he was able to speak again, Robin said "Beast Boy, we just want to know what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong" was all the teen said.

"Yes there is" Raven countered. "And we intend to find out what one way or another."

"Nothing's wrong, everything's fine."

"Does it have something to do with that phone call after lunch?" Cyborg asked, heedless of his friend's denial.

Beast Boy was silent as he polished his desk in small, practiced circles. The circles slowly became slower and larger as the teenager grimaced. A small tear dropped onto the desk.

"Beast Boy?" Starfire approached and laid a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "What is troubling you?"

"She died." His whisper was so soft that the alien princess—or anyone else for that matter—barely caught it.

"Who?" was the question voiced by Cyborg.

"Rissa." Beast Boy at last looked up and the Titans saw all the sorrow in his jade green eyes before he looked over to his dresser. They followed his gaze to a small picture of a young woman about eighteen years of age. "My sister" and then the waterfall came.

Beast Boy just hung his head over the desk and sobbed. Starfire patted his shoulder, trying to offer any comfort she had.

"I'm…sorry." Now it was Cyborg who was the one stuttering.

"I'm sorry, I'm acting like a baby" Beast Boy tried to laugh as he wiped his tears away, but it turned into a half-sob half-choke.

"No" Raven spoke up firmly from the shadows she had been residing in up until that point. "Sorrow and tears cannot be prevented. It's not stupid to cry when you've lost a loved one." And Beast Boy followed her wisdom in this regard, he fell sobbing uncontrollably into her arms.

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Maybe it's a little sad, but I promise laughter and humor later on, after Part One of course. That's why this section was called **Sorrow and Tears**.

A bit of a BBRae moment that last line was. That's because a lot of people wanted more of that in **Memory Lane**. So now, it's an all-you-can-eat buffet of BBRae moments! Sort of, because they'll sort'a be like… Oh look at me, getting ahead of myself LOL.

_A tisket, a tasket_

_I want some reviews for my basket!_


	2. The Funeral of Marissa Mary Logan

**Parenthood**

I can't believe it! Six reviews! Six reviews for the first chapter! It's incredible!

Thank you all that reviewed. Thank you for your criticism, encouragement, and pleadings for updates. As you can see, I have done my best to oblige to those wishes.

Disclaimer: Are you serious? I don't have the kind of money that buys popular TV shows!

Claimer: I own Marissa, and four other originals not yet named.

The last chapter had a lot of sorrow, and, I'm sorry to say, so will this one. But not as much, I hope I can gradually get the melancholy out.

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**Part One: Sorrow and Tears**

**The Funeral of Marissa Mary Logan**

Beast Boy was now alone in his room. The clock on his nightstand said it was eleven thirty, so everyone would be in bed. But he couldn't sleep. His sister kept popping into his mind. He finally threw off the blankets and jumped out of bed. He tip-toed over to the picture of his sister and picked it up.

Rissa had looked a lot like their mom with wavy blonde hair and huge, sparkling blue eyes. It was an old picture taken when she was eighteen, which was nine years ago. It had been taken when their parents had still been alive, just a few months before the boating accident that killed Mark and Mary Logan and Uncle Matthew Logan.

After that Rissa had just sort of took charge. She got her younger brother Beast Boy—then Gar—and their cousin Thomas out of Africa and to Mary's native country, France. There the three had lived for a few weeks. That is, until Thomas started getting into frequent fights with the local gangs. In the end, losing his aunt, uncle, and father all at once proved to be more than he could handle, and Thomas committed suicide.

But that had not stopped Rissa. She had just shaken her head at the grave and continued to move her brother and herself to New York in America. There they moved into an abandoned gas station and Rissa took up a job at a local grocery store. Beast Boy remembered spending the day time in a library not far from the gas station from ten thirty in the morning to six thirty at night. _And that_, he thought with a smile, _was how I got my schooling_.

Rissa had been the strongest person Beast Boy had ever met. Sure Raven had kept a scary prophecy to herself for years, and Robin had been tortured by Slade on several accounts. But Rissa had lost her parents, her uncle, her cousin, home, and life and she kept going. Nothing could stand in her way once she set her mind on something, not even Slade could have. _I used to think Death couldn't either_, Beast Boy murmured inwardly and sadly. _But maybe it was wishful thinking on my part._

Well, she was dead now and nothing could be done to change that diminutive fact. Beast Boy felt his eyelids dropping slightly and climbed into bed. As sleep finally claimed him, he thought _I hope you're happy up there Reese, I really do._

------

The next morning, after he had scoured the breakfast dishes, Beast Boy made an announcement.

"I'm going to Chicago for the day," he said as softly as possible in hope that no one would hear. He was wrong.

"What?" Robin shrieked as he jumped up from the computer console he had been staring at until previously. Beast Boy flinched openly. Here came the part he had hoped to avoid, at least until tomorrow.

"That's funny." Cyborg laughed. "I thought the little grass stain said he was going to Chicago!"

The 'little grass stain' in question took a deep breath then replied. "I did."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the cybernetic teen yelled jumping up to stand by Robin. "Would you be so kind as to explain **WHY** you doing this?" he screamed.

"My sister's funeral" Beast By whispered. "She lived in Chicago."

Everyone instantly simmered down. When you lose a dear one you want to abide by their every last wish, even if that means all you can do is attend their burial ceremony.

It was than that Starfire saw that the interment would bring back better-buried memories, so volunteered all her friends and herself to accompany Beast Boy.

"No!" the shapeshifter instantly declined. "It wouldn't be right to make you guys go through that horrible thing."

"It's okay," Robin voiced, holding up his hand to silence Beast Boy. "I think Starfire's right, we'll come with you." Raven and Cyborg quickly agreed to this plan. Then the teens returned to their rooms to find proper attire.

Clothing, or course, was an issue. For those of you who have been to a funeral or read about one know that to be respectful to that of the departed person you must where black. But on Tamaran it is different, very different.

"I do not comprehend" Starfire stated as her friends stared at her bright yellow and orange ornamental outfit. "Are we not going to erect a memorial to that of a deceased relation?"

"Um…" Robin tried to find a way to politely explain to the Tamaranian that she was supposed to where black to funerals.

"I'll find her something decent to where" Raven supplied as she half-dragged Starfire to her otherwise-forbidden room. "Black is my color after all."

One and a half hours later the T-Jet, after a brief talk with the manager, was pulling into the Chicago city airport. Once landing was complete and the Titans had retrieved a map of the Illinois capital, they had hailed down a taxi and were well on their way to the Chicago cemetery.

And that was how Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy, dressed in formal, black suits and Starfire and Raven, dressed in floor-length, black lace dresses, walked into the cemetery and towards a small gathering of about a half-dozen people near the edge of the graveyard.

It was clearly obvious that they were slightly late, but the priest continued his sermon as if he did not notice the new-comers—which he probably didn't considering his eyes were closed and his face turned upwards to the heavens.

"Take ye hand of the lost woman and guide her home to thy" the priest droned, somewhat less mechanically then others of his profession whom shall not be named. "Uplift her up into thine heavenly glow that she might rejoice in her eternal form. And let those left behind not grieve in her departure, but rejoice as well in knowing their loved one is in thine loving and tending hand, Almighty Lord."

It is now that something must be mentioned. Starfire, a being not from this planet, found this experience intensely interesting. Raven kept her unreadable expression throughout the sermon, while Beast Boy was too busy mourning his loss to notice. But Cyborg and Robin found the oration vaguely disturbing, with all its talk of death and fatality and resurrection.

_I will never see the world in the same light ever again_, Robin thought with his eyes as wide as saucers.

Cyborg had his own opinion on the minister and his sermon. _This guy is creepy, maybe even creeper than _Raven_. And she's creepy!_

At last, the terrible ordeal ended. And another began.

"All those closely related to Miss Logan", the cleric spoke in normal tones as he snapped his leather Bible shut. "And friends of course, are welcome to attend the reading of the will and testimony."

Each Titan had their individual thoughts on this particular installment. Raven's were sarcastic as usual, _Great, more crowds._ Beast Boy's was confused, _Will, what will?_ Cyborg's was resolutely, _I will _NOT_ go to the reading of a creepy will, especially if the guy reading it is the creepy pastor._ Robin's thoughts were more along the lines of _No! Not even no. Hell no!_

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I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid of all the rotten fruits and veggies that'll be thrown at me.

¡Adiós amigos!

JA


	3. The Reading of the Will of Marissa Logan

**Parenthood**

OH MY GOD! Seven reviews this time!

These are those nice people who bothered to read my sorry tale:

**Silverxpearls**

**Das Ubermann**

**Batgirl435**

**Zarola**

**Samuraigurl1213**

**Starjadenight**

**Mortal Guardian**

Thank you everyone! I'm so thrilled you like this story! Please keep reading and reviewing! Please!

I think this is going to be the last sad chapter. And then the humor and horror begin! Hee, Hee, Hee, Hee! No wait! Hah, Hah, Hah, Hah! No wait! Muwahahahah! Yes, that's it! Muwahahahah!

Disclaimer: I'm just gonna skip this today. Ya'll know the answer anyway. It's getting kind'a old, so wait until I get some new material.

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**Part One: Sorrow and Tears**

**The Reading of the Will of Marissa Mary Logan**

There they were, the Teen Titans of Jump City sitting in the back row of an office that looked very similar to a shrunken auditorium. A short, balding man stood at the front of the room holding a document of some sort. This, Robin supposed, was the will the man would read as soon as everyone had finished filing in. And that happened soon, too soon.

"We gather here today to commemorate Miss Marissa Logan's last wishes" the balding man announced loudly so as the back of room could hear him too. "I am Mr. Johnson, the lawyer of the late Miss Logan."

He cleared his throat to silence a couple that was talking in the row in front of the Titans. "We shall now begin the reading."

"If I am destined to depart from life young aged, I have a few last requests." Mr. Johnson read, his voice bouncing off the walls. "I have few possessions that are to be given to my close friends and family."

"To my good friend Polly McGovern I leave…" It was here Beast Boy tuned out. _Oh, why did I come here_, he thought sadly. _I should have known it would only bring back memories that were better left buried._

During the first half hour Beast Boy concentrated on the periodic tables, the poisonous gases of the sun, odd facts like how deep the deepest part of the ocean was, anything other than the reason why he was in that room listening to his sister's lawyer.

The shapeshifter vaguely heard the very ending of the will being read.

"To my children, if I have any, I leave my money and house and everything in it. If I do not have children, then everything is to go to my younger brother Garfield." As the lawyer stopped reading, many people let out cries of outrage at being left out of the will. Mr. Johnson silenced them by raising his hand and a glare, and then he continued as if nothing had occurred.

Beast Boy tuned in again in time to hear the part that was most important, the part that had the power to change the course of his life forever.

"If I do have children but they are under age sixteen when I die, then my brother and his family are to assume guardianship over them until they come of age, which must be at least until they are ready for collage." And with that short will read, Mr. Johnson folded up the document, put it into his briefcase, and walked over to a group of men standing at the door.

After a small bit of conversing, the lawyer returned and announced a last minute statement. "Miss Logan was the mother of a four year old, a two year old and a new born baby. Will the brother and his family please come with me to my office" and with that said, he walked out the door. Four several moments, all the Titans could do was sit there in their seats in total shock.

Then they looked over at Beast Boy, who was probably having some form of mind numbness from the episode that had just taken place. "You're Garfield, right?" Cyborg asked, wanting confirmation in his last hopes that there was a mistake or BB was just playing a joke of some sort on them. But to his utter disappointment and disturbance, Beast Boy nodded in astonishment.

------

For the second time that day the Titans were sitting in hard, stiff chairs. But this time they were in a room that matched its chairs. The walls were spotless metal shined to perfection, and so was the floor. At the end of the metal room opposite the team sat a large metal desk, and sitting at this desk was Mr. Johnson.

"Well", he said peeking over his glasses at them. "Be it strange enough, we have relatives finally."

There wasn't a Titan in that room that didn't gulp in nervousness at that point.

"It's a good thing this, because we've been looking for a family of Miss Logan's for three days." Starfire wriggled in her seat under the strange man's gaze. "Miss Logan perished at the Our Lady of Sorrow's Hospital August eleventh. Do any of you know why she was there?"

Everyone shook his or her head except one. "She was having a baby" Beast Boy said quietly. "She'd emailed me and told me about it. She was hoping it was a boy cause she already had two girls."

Mr. Johnson nodded sympathetically. "Yes, it turned out to be more then one child though." Beast Boy looked up from his twiddling hands to the lawyer's face.

"Twins?"

Mr. Johnson rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "No but either way, you, and" he gestured to the other team members "your family, have complete custody over the kids." Beast Boy's face was now one of pure alarm.

"As for how many newborns, how well do you think you can handle quadruplets?" That was it; he could take no more shock or surprises. Beast Boy fainted.

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Ah, shock does wonders for a story. You can use the lightning shock, the hospital shock, the amazement shock, or many other shocks. Any way you go though, shock is cool.

This chapter was probably the toughest because I've never been to a will reading. So I hope I did a good job.

Coming up next on Parenthood: The Titans meet their 'kids', buy baby name books, learn about Christenings, and make some once-in-a-lifetime decisions.

In other words, THE FUN REALLY BEGINS!

All my reviews of chapters two and one, please come back to review chapter three! Please, I'm begging you!

JA


	4. Adoption Is a Fickle Thing

**Parenthood**

I'm very sorry that I've updated so late. I tried to stick to my dead-line, but that's very hard to do considering I have no internet access at my house.

In order to make up for it, I've put up three chapters all at once. Let's begin by happily introducing chapters four, five, and six and sparing the life of this author. I will take better care to keep my dead-lines from here on out. It's a promise.

Now, thank you all that reviewed! It's really touching how much you care (wipes away tear)! Now, let me introduce those fabulous people! My reviewers!

**Agent of the Divine One**

**silverxpearls**

**Mortal Guardian**

**Kidsnextdoor112**

**DrkHunterX**

**demiryu** (two from this guy, or girl)

**Starjadenight**

**deadinside72**

**Guardian of Azarath**

**samuraigurl1213**

**acosta perez jose ramiro**

**Zarola**

Aren't they wonderful people? Thirteen reviews, can you believe it?

Uh-oh, thirteen is an unlucky number. Let's hope that number doesn't live up to its superstitious reputation.

Oh, before I forget. I will no longer be answering reviews by e-mail. Instead I'll write 'em down in the beginning of the chapters. Thank you for your time. Now, on with the show!

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**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids** (Those words just came to me out of the blue. Do you think it fits? Send in your thoughts.)

**Adoption Is a Fickle Thing**

Beast Boy fainted.

"Um, BB" Cyborg shook his friend then shrugged at Mr. Johnson. "We'll take him out."

"Is there, uh" Robin took a gulp of air to steady his panicked mind. "Anything else?"

"Yes there is." The lawyer shuffled some papers around before handing a folder which consisted of a large pile of them about two inches high to Robin. Needless to say, Robin needed to gulp again as he took the papers.

"Those are the adoption papers you will need to fill out." Mr. Johnson began opening drawers and shutting them, as if looking for something. "They will be due back in two weeks, no more or the children's social worker, Miss Goodrupp, will have you put down as 'unable to for fill the children's needs'."

It was at this point Cyborg was successful in waking Beast Boy up. When the changeling sat up and took stock of his surroundings again, he looked as if he might cry again. But he controlled himself and looked to Cyborg to see what was happening.

"We've got some adoption papers to fill out, but that's about it." Beast Boy let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh no" Mr. Johnson contradicted. "I have a form for each of you to fill out about your background. Where you come from, where your live, where you were born, when your were born, things like that. Things so we can disable Miss Goodrupp's watchful eye." He smiled pleasantly at the teens, as if he knew this was the first time anything like this had ever happened to them.

The man passed out identical documents and pens and proceeded with his reports. "Right now, as you filling those out I'll need one of you to answer a series of questions." Robin nodded, signaling that he could go ahead and begin.

"First, I'll need to make sure that at least one of you is sixteen so we won't have to fill out anymore paperwork." _Right_, Robin thought, _like you're going to help us with this stuff._

Cyborg raised his hand in response to the first question. "I'll soon be seventeen."

"Good, now second" the lawyer wrote something down on a clipboard. "Where do you five live?"

"Jump City, New York **(A/N—I suppose since Gotham is in New York)**" Raven replied while scrutinizing a certain question.

"All right then, when is the most convenient time for you to pick the children up?"

Robin looked up. "Can't we just take them with us on our way back home?"

"No" Beast Boy answered before Mr. Johnson could open his mouth. "There are certain shots and exams they'll have to have before entering another state." Robin nodded understandment.

"Yes", Mr. Johnson nodded to the green teen. "So we planned to send them with Miss Goodrupp and her associate on a plane."

"We'll pick them up as soon as their flight comes in tomorrow then" Robin finally replied.

"Very good" the tiny man announced, leaning back in his leather swivel-chair. "You are to give those to my secretary before you leave" he said nodding the files the Titans were filling out.

"But I suppose you'll want to get going." The teens nodded. "Very well, I'm sorry for the inconvenience but you're not allowed to come in contact with the children. The doctors are afraid of contaminations leading to sues. They're can be a bit on the paranoid side at times."

"Yeah," Cyborg spoke slowly, not quite understanding the man. "We'll see ya' later then."

The team walked out the door. They stood in the hallway outside looking over the background files very similar to kids comparing answers after a test.

"I did NOT know what to put for that one question" Cyborg said as he unfolded his paper.

"Which 'one' question?" Beast Boy asked. "I must have skipped a dozen questions."

"The one about the sir names."

"Oh, that one, yeah I left that one blank too." Beast Boy and Robin nodded in unison. "I don't really have a sir name."

"I'm not giving me name out to anyone", Robin said seriously.

"I am afraid I did not comprehend the inquiry" was Starfire.

"On Earth we have three names" Robin explained. "One is our first name, then comes the middle name, and last is the sir name which is usually the father's name."

"Oh" the alien girl voiced as she absorbed this information.

"What about you, Raven?" Cyborg asked. "What did you put?"

"I waited until we could all talk about" was her answer. "Since we are supposed to be a 'family', we might as well invent a name for all of us to go under."

"Not a bad idea" Robin approved. "So, any suggestions for what our name should be?"

Everyone just shrugged or squinted in thought. "Alright" the Boy Wonder sighed. "How about we sleep on it?" Beast Boy and Cyborg nodded in agreement. But Raven wasn't happy with that solution.

"But we're expected to turn the documents over directly before we leave" the gothic girl spoke, raising one eyebrow inquiringly. "Aren't we?"

"Yes, Raven is correct" Starfire interjected before anyone else could reply. "We were to do the 'filling out' to the papers of importance, and subsequently present them to the 'secretary' of the Mr. John's Son."

"She's got a point. And it's Mr. Johnson, Starfire." Robin closed eyes in thought for a brief moment.

"Okay, let's go with this." He turned to Beast Boy, who was leaning against the metal wall beside Robin. "Beast Boy, what was you sister's last name?"

"The name of my family is never to be spoken aloud or in thought" the changeling rambled, as if quoting out of a book.

"Oh, for God's sake, BB!" Cyborg yelled. "It's a name! What could happen?"

Beast Boy turned to his robot-human hybrid and stared at him evenly. "All of us and everyone in this building and everything in a seven-mile radius could explode."

"Are you joking?"

"No, I'm not. Robin may think Slade's a psycho, but I've met people who you just have to give them a picture, a name or address, and a million dollar deposit in their bank account for them to go out and kill someone." The usually happiest and carefree of all the members of the team now had a serious and cold expression on his small, green face. "I've been attacked by people like that, so I know it's not good to have my name."

"Okay." Cyborg rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say. Raven felt otherwise.

"Well it's obvious we can't change Beast Boy's mind" she said in a voice devoid of all emotion. "What's Plan B?"

"What's the kids' father's name?" Then Robin stopped to think about what he just said. "Where is the father?"

"Dead, been that way for seven months."

"Alright, what was his name?"

"Orphan", Beast Boy answered, his voice sounding disturbingly akin to Raven's tone. "He didn't have a sir name. That was why Rissa kept her maiden name."

Before anyone could even think of anything else to say, Starfire broke in. "Robin" she called waving a paper under his nose. "Is this not some precious, subterranean material on your planet?"

Robin managed to grab the paper from her and read the word she pointed out. "Amethyst, yeah it is." He nodded approvingly at the ecstatic alien girl. "But here it's used as a name for a little girl."

"What're the others' names?" Cyborg asked incredulously.

"Emerald, and…" Robin flipped through the pages, a frown deepening his features. "The quadruplets are unnamed."

"Perfect" said Raven sarcastically. "That's all we need, to name four babies as well as raise them." Starfire squealed in delight.

Then the Goth got an odd look on her pale face. "The older girls are named after stones right?" The boys nodded confusedly. "So we should name the babies after stones too."

"Okay" was Cyborg. "What are ya' getting' at?"

"Six gem names" Raven calculated. "So it wouldn't hurt if our family name was 'Gem', would it?"

"Not bad", murmured Robin.

"Best idea yet", Beast Boy congratulated her.

"Yeah" Cyborg said, because he was already penning the short word down. "Cyborg Gem, it's got a nice ring to it."

"Gem it is." So the Titans had a family name now, but what about the new members of that family?

&&&&

I rewrote the ending to this chapter multiple times before deciding on that line. I still feel like it's wrong, but it was the best I got.

I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review before you leave. Thank you for your precious time, hopefully it wasn't wasted.

Oh, and this is the last time 'Rissa' will be mentioned. I just used her character to give the story some spiff. I'm dropping her because I don't like writing tragedy, and that's what will have to be written if I continue to keep her in the fic. So say good-bye to Miss Marissa Mary Logan, for good. I'm sorry if anyone doesn't like that, but this is was meant to be a comedy not a crier.

JA


	5. The Last Thing You Expect

**Parenthood**

This is the chapter you've all been waiting for! The chapter that marks the end of the tragedy section and the beginning of the humor/horror section! The chapter that tells us what the Teen Titans do when they meet the kids! The chapter that tells us what the adoption agent is like! And most importantly, this is the chapter that tells us how expensive diapers are!

Reviewers! This is it! And here is where I would reply to my reviewers if I had any, but since this has been uploaded the same day as chapter four there are no reviewers. Oh, that's so sad to write! I've gotten so used to reviewers.

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**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids**

**The Last Thing You Expect…**

Once arriving back at the Tower, the Titans began readying a particularly large room for the children they had more or less had been forced into adopting. That morning as breakfast was just getting underway the team had received a call from Mr. Johnson. He had told them that the plane that was to deliver the little girls and their temporary guardians would be arriving at the airport at eleven thirty sharp.

So the Titans had rushed through the rest of a breakfast that nobody had really eaten, and finished the last bit of shopping and rearranging. The previously-spare room had been transformed into a baby nursery and preschool playroom in less than two days. One half of the room had two cribs—"You wouldn't believe how much cribs cost" as Robin had complained the day before—the other half had a twin bed for the two eldest. The teens could only hope the four-year-old and two-year-old were accustomed to sharing a single bed. The walls had yet to be painted so they were a white sheet-rock, and where there wasn't the plain white there were floor-to-ceiling shelves that would keep blankets, sheets, bottles, diapers, and other things necessary for raising an infant—or four. The team had agreed on picking these items after the girls had been picked up.

Then each hero had exchanged their trademark costumes for normal clothes a teenager should wear—or shouldn't where in some cases. Robin was wearing black jeans a red muscle shirt, and he had exchanged his mask for a pair of dark sunglasses. Cyborg was wearing a navy blue sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and oil-stained blue jeans **(A/N—the holographic rings are in need of some repairs)**. Beast Boy had an oversized, white undershirt, equally large jeans, and a baseball cap. Everything the changeling wore looked exceptionally baggy on his lean person. The boys had managed to convince Raven to dress in something other than black, so she sported a lilac, knee-length skirt and a pale blue blouse, courtesy of Starfire's closet.

"Hurry up Star!" Cyborg yelled from the kitchen where he was leaning on the table. "Or we're gonna be late picking up those kids!" Then he shuddered thinking, _All six of 'em._

Robin, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were waiting in the common room for their alien friend. She was still in her room where she had been ever since the five teens had placed the last folded, pink blanket on the final crib. And Starfire's friends were starting to show each their own unique signs of impatience.

Robin was tapping his foot and scowling with irritation, as if wanting to get the children-involved excursion—as unfortunate as he thought it was—over and done with. Beast Boy had chewed on his fingernails until they were ragged-looking and bleeding, but he took no heed of this and continued to tear apart his fingernails. Everyone could tell Raven's fortitude was about to reach the end of its rope by the way the page she was currently reading had a small cloud of smoke floating above it, and the way the light over the gothic girl's head would be encased in glowing black every few minutes before Raven regained control of her anger. And it has been established that Cyborg's way of making known he was aggravated was by voicing it aloud, literally it was quite deafeningly.

"Star" the half-robot man began to yell again. It was then that the girl aforementioned decided to make her moderately sunshiny entrance. Dressed in a soft yellow sundress, it highlighted her bright red hair I might add.

"What took you so long?" Robin managed to ask relatively calmly before Cyborg could voice a similar question, much less calm then that of his leader's.

"I simply wished to accomplish a series of activities I have been absorbed within, friend Robin" the tall girl replied, taking a small shoe-box out from her back. "These are the items of which I shall welcome the children into our family with." And with that said she turned swiftly, causing her bright red hair to swirl for a brief second, and glided gracefully towards the garage and the T-car. Her relieved companions hustled after her promptly.

Cyborg took the wheel as Robin climbed into the front, passenger seat—he was leaving his motorcycle parked, as it was inappropriate to pick a small child up from the airport on a motor bike. Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy had been squeezed into the back seat.

How did they think of transporting the recently-orphaned girls in a packed car? The answer will come soon enough. Though I feel I must warn you, they way these teenaged crime-fighters plan to accomplish that might break a few laws. But they are the laws that every new parent feels he or she must break. It's practically a universal law to break these said laws!

The ride to downtown Jump City was an uneventful one. The team—minus the one that had to keep his eyes on the road—simply watched the passing people. They watched the mailmen and women delivering magazines and bills to unsuspecting people. They observed as an ice cream vender handed out cones to a small family before the T-car was farther down the street. The next scene that was played out was about a half-dozen kids strolling down the sidewalk talking and laughing.

Robin felt his eyes drawn repeatedly to the people who held small children's hands. He caught himself wondering if he would one day find himself walking down that same route that led passed all those little shops, leading a little girl to the candy store or the ice cream truck or perhaps her first trip to the dentist.

Raven and Starfire were each submerged in their own thoughts. The orange alien kept giggling happily, thinking about the six surprises in her tiny box, the surprises she would present to the girls as a way of saying "Welcome into our small but happy family!" The expressionless goth meanwhile was thinking of what life would be like after this day. Would things change drastically all at once? Or would things change daily and in small, insignificant amounts? Or would things remain relatively the same? _I highly doubt that_, Raven thought as she mentally pictured the nursery with all its sheets and blankets and stuff that would probably be scattered all over the Tower in less than three days.

Beast Boy's thoughts were concerning the girls themselves. Would they like to live at the Tower? Or would they hate it? Would they be nice kids and do as they were told, or act like snotty brats? _Oh, I hope their nice_, the changeling prayed silently, _or at least young enough to be taught good manners._ Then he it dawned on him what he had just thought. _Of course they're young enough, you idiot! The oldest is four years old!_

As Beast Boy was chewing himself out mentally, Cyborg had parked the car in a spot near enough to the front door of the airport.

Everyone was climbing out of the blue and silver vehicle, but Cyborg just sat where he was. "I'll what here and…guard the car" he finished lamely.

Robin stared evenly in at the metal man, one of his gloved hands resting on the top of the car. "Cyborg, get out."

"But—" the larger teen started to protest.

"I said get out." The words were so emotionless it was scary. Needless to say Cyborg obeyed his leader.

The Titans advanced to the revolving, glass doors to the grey building. It was really remarkably that such an innocent construction could be so foreboding. The team first asked where Flight 23—the plane the orphans would be coming in on—would be coming down, and told the clerk their business there that relatively ordinary Tuesday. They then took seats as close as they could get to where the girls and their handlers would come from.

Cyborg found himself glancing down at the clock in his arm every five minutes or so. _Eleven o-seven, twenty-three minutes to go._ Then he would glance around the waiting room for several minutes before looking down again. _Eleven thirteen, hurry up plane_, he grumbled wordlessly.

Cyborg then noticed a woman in her mid thirties as she herded a group of three or four kids aged seven to eleven toward a certain gate. It was obviously a small family on vacation, or more likely going home from their vacation. The woman was clearly exasperated. Some of her brown locks had escaped her tight bun and she snapped at one boy as he pulled one of his sister's pig-tails, probably not for the first time.

He observed the family until they were well on their way before he glanced down at his clock again. _Eleven twenty-four_, the half-machine hybrid smiled happily. _Not much longer, then we can finally meet these kids we adopted._ He caught himself starting to gaze around bordely again, so he peered down at the watch. And much to his dismay saw it had barely been two minutes.

Raven caught Cyborg's next low grumble. She turned around to him declaring "If you take another look at that clock of yours I'm going to lose control."

"Friends" Starfire interrupted gently. "Are the small figures we seek fair of hair and guarded by larger figures?"

"Possibly" Raven replied, temporarily disengaged from her promised threat to Cyborg.

"Why?" inquired Robin, scanning the faces of the people who trekked by. "Did you see someone like that?"

"There, they are entering the room." The orange-skinned girl pointed towards a gate where four figures had just entered, the adults each carried two small car-seats.

"Okay" the Boy Wonder cleared his throat. "Let's try and make a good impression. Does everyone understand?"

"Yeah."

"Got it."

"Yes."

"I believe so."

"Good, let's go." And with that the team marched towards the waiting group standing somewhat impatiently beside the flight-gate.

To anyone who might have paid any attention to the seemingly normal group that approached the car-seats, the teens walked as those condemned to the very inner sanctum of Hell. It's a pity the Titans' faces weren't caught on video. Ah well, you can't have everything in life.

"Are you Miss Goodrupp?" Robin asked politely, though his thoughts were not so.

"Indeed I am" replied the taller of the two women standing before the teens. She was in a business suit-dress of brown pinstripes and her grey-streaked brown hair was in so tight a bun her eyebrows were sharp arrows. "Mr. Gem, I presume."

It took a moment for the unfamiliar name to sink in before anyone answered. "Yes, that's me" Robin 'Gem' responded with a nod of his head.

"And these are my fr—" The Boy Wonder paused. "Brothers and sisters" was the final outcome.

"Indeed" Miss Goodrupp peered snootily down on our Titan leader. "Do you have the children's adoption forms?" Up until this point Beast Boy and Cyborg had been keeping their heads low. But the tone in Miss Goodrupp's cold voice made Beast Boy start chewing on his nails again. That is, until Raven slapped him upside the head.

**Flashback: Early that morning, right before Starfire came out from her room**

"**If you chew on your nails anymore today" Raven growled threateningly. "I'll rip them all off one by one."**

**"Yes, Ma'am!" Beast Boy squealed.**

**End Flashback**

This small act of Raven carrying out her oath fortunately went on unnoticed by the adoption agent.

Robin turned to the rest of the group, who nodded encouragement. "We have not filled out everything yet" Miss Goodrupp raised one of her already-raised eyebrows. "We voted to name the infants when they were within our care."

"Very well", the tight woman turned to her associate. "Miss Thompson, we will now deliver the orphans to their guardians." She turned to glare at the team as her. "The only reason we do not go with you to inspect your living style is because Mr. Johnson has forbade us to."

The teens didn't know exactly what to say so they just nodded. Miss Goodrupp and Miss Thompson had turned to the ticket desk, when the social worker swung back around seething. "But mark my words you will not be permitted to keep these orphans for long; for as soon as Johnson has his back turned I will be at your doorstep. There is something very wrong with your 'family'. Good day!" And she marched after her friend, leaving two toddlers and four pink and yellow car seats in front of the teens.

"Okay, bye" Cyborg said with a small wave and an open mouth.

"Yeah, see ya' around" was Beast Boy, equally surprised as his tin friend.

Then, in perfect unanimity, the Titans turned to survey the girls they had adopted without even seeing first. The babies asleep in the car-seats had really pale yellow hair and were so small it appeared that Cyborg could hold two in each hand. The older girls also had whitish-blonde hair, though it was longer and there was more of it. They both shared bright blue eyes and rebel chins.

Though all five teens were observing the small girls, it was Starfire who took action first. "Welcome children!" She grabbed the two and hugged them gently—which for her incredible strength is really something. When she pulled away she retrieved her shoebox from her daisy book-bag and opened it. "I have a gift for each of you to welcome you much more into our family! Here!" And she presented the each girl with a silver chain. At the end of the chain was a stone, the color was different for each necklace. The red-headed alien also had four bracelets which she placed back into the box to wait for the infants to awake. She then hugged the girls a second time.

When Starfire let them go for the second time the girls' faces looked to be a bit blue, but it might have been a trick of the light. You know how bad airport lighting can be, in one place it'll be brighter than daylight the next it's as poor as a beggar. "You must be very tired from your long trip, come we will take you home." This statement seemed to shock the others out of their staring and into action.

"Ya', c'mon" agreed Cyborg as he took two car-seats and Robin took the other two. "We'll take ya' home and get ya' settled in."

"Shopping first" Robin reminded his over-enthusiastic friend. He had noticed that all the girls had had been two small trunks. "This is a bit more serious than we thought."

With Starfire leading the way while holding the older girls' hands, Cyborg and Robin with the infants, and Raven and Beast Boy with the luggage, the five teens retreated out of the busy airport and back out to the safety of the T-car. The trunk was quickly loaded with the car-seats—for there wasn't room in the car for them—and suitcases, and with Raven, Robin, Beast Boy holding the babies and Starfire holding the toddlers' hands, the Titans noticed the big problem.

"The car's packed" Cyborg said oh-so intelligently. "This is a problem." Robin glared at the vehicle, thinking.

"I think I've got an idea", the leader began. All heads turned to him—except the kids', who were practically asleep on their feet. "The…babies" the teenaged boy seemed to have trouble saying that word. "Raven and Beast Boy could hold them." Those who had been mentioned glared at the Boy Wonder. "And Starfire could hold the other two. We'll think up what to do about this when we're back at the Tower."

"I thought that was illegal, like a heath hazard or something", Beast Boy finally spoke up.

"You got a better idea?"

"Well no, but—"

"Then shu—" Robin caught himself as Raven began to glare at him. "Please be quiet." Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged grins. It wasn't everyday they got to see Robin about ready to blow his spiky-haired top.

"I shall abide by this plan" Starfire exclaimed joyfully, already climbing into the car. "Shall we not this place leave?"

"Okay, okay" Cyborg said as Raven and Beast Boy climbed in. Once belted up, he handed the infants to them. "More bad news Robin, we're out'a room."

Robin groaned from the front seat. Could this day get any worse? "I'll hold one of them up front" he finally answered, holding his head. Starfire promptly passed up the eldest girl, who sat on his lap. Cyborg tried to contain a smirk as he climbed into the driver's seat. Robin saw it anyway and returned it with a death glare that said quite bluntly: _Don't say a word_.

The car started up and they were gone. The trip to Wal-Mart **(A/N—so sue me, that's the only superstore I know, super-heroes & superstore!)** was a quicker one then that of the trip to the airport. Starfire voted to stay in the car with the sleeping children and so did Beast Boy and Raven. Sadly, Raven was denied. She entered the store with Robin and Cyborg, and began shopping for blankets, baby bottles and food, diapers, and sheets. _Not that that last one really matters_, she thought ruefully as the three friends each grabbed a basket and separated. _The boys rarely wash their own sheets._

Before separating, each remaining Titan had been assigned particular items to search for. Robin was out for blankets and sheets. Cyborg was searching for bottles and food. And Raven? She got stuck with diapers and diaper-wipes.

As she walked down the aisles, Raven glanced at prices and calculated worth. When something was too expensive in her opinion, she simply passed it by. As she reached the end of the diaper aisle she had found, she realized that it was the only aisle possessing what she needed. _These cost _WAY_ too much_, Raven screamed to herself, glowering. _For God's sake, it's just a pack of diapers and they want fifteen dollars for twelve of them!_ Raven was tempted to leave then and there, but she knew that if she did not get enough diapers to last a week at least Robin would be at her for the rest of the day. And she had recently acquired a book written by Edgar Allan Poe that she wanted to read.

The brightly dressed goth browsed the aisle, peering at price tags and then looking away in disgust. _Seven dollars for a pack of ten, but they didn't look sturdy._ Another scour of the aisle revealed another proposal. _Ten dollars for twenty of them, but they don't have any in the twenty-four months or newborn section._ Another failure which was promptly followed by anther find. _Twelve dollars for two dozen isn't bad, and they've got both the sizes I need._ Raven collected two packages of each size and placed them in her basket. She then went to the front of the store to see if Cyborg and Robin had achieved their goals.

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This one was really long. I considered cutting it down, but, as you can see, didn't. It was nice this way.

And I want to make known that diapers ARE very expensive, but I'm not sure I gave entirely accurate prices.

I hoped you have enjoyed this chapter, and will review to state your opinions. I will reply in the next update. Thank you.

JA


	6. Is the One That Happens First

**Parenthood**

Do you think there are too many serious books out there? Do you think the world needs more laughter and comedy? Then I might have just what you need. Parenthood, dive beyond the cool exteriors of the Teen Titans and into what their lives become when they are forced into becoming parents.

This is JadeAshes coming to you live from Parenthood Chapter Six.

Okay, just so you know, I've been thinking about commercials a lot lately. So just put up with me and I'll try not to do that again.

I'm having difficulty finding interesting gem names for the quadruplets. Send me in some suggestions. Enjoy and review!

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**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids**

…**Is the One That Happens First**

Once the shopping was complete, the Titans headed home. It had been a long day and it wasn't even halfway over with! This is what the great Titan leader was thinking as he led the way inside the tower. The boys were each carrying a little girl, and Starfire and Raven were waiting out in the car with the remaining three infants. That was also when the girls discovered that the infants had the numbers three through four on their shirts. So everyone would know who was born first and who was born last, was what Raven assumed.

Cyborg managed to flick on the light switches while holding the oldest sleeping girl. Then the Titan boys laid the girls down in their beds, and went back out for the remaining blondes and their luggage. Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy quickly saw that the last infants were safely in their shared cribs while Robin and Cyborg made sure of the trunks.

Once the blankets, sheets, baby food, diapers, and baby bottles had been brought in from the car, the girls told the boys about the numbered infants. Then the Titans sat around the table with a few bottles of Coke-Cola and talked about what was to happen next.

"Okay" Robin whispered, pressing his gloved fingers against his forehead. "Okay, obviously their here to stay." His friends sitting around him nodded wearily. "So, we'll have to make them feel welcome."

"And how will we do that?" Raven inquired monotonously. "None of us exactly know how to play with toddlers."

"We'll have to take a leaf out of Star's book" the Boy Wonder responded.

"But" the aforesaid alien looked up, obviously startled. "I do not have a book of leaves." She looked very confused, the poor foreigner.

"I mean we should act similar to you." Robin explained patiently to Starfire. "You're the only one of us present here who can actually socialize with children comfortably."

"Oh", she smiled again as she comprehended what he was trying to get across to her. "I believe I understand the dilemma now."

"Are you saying" Cyborg began hesitantly. "Are you saying that we're going to have to actually learn to PLAY with the kids?"

"Yes" was the uncomfortable answer.

"COOL!" Cyborg shouted enthusiastically.

"Shhh!" everyone shushed him then listened for any sounds that might come from the nursery. Not a sound was there heard.

"Sorry", the metallic teen smiled sheepishly.

"Yes, we're going to have to get to know these kids" Robin surveyed his team evenly, as if explaining a strategy to a particularly ruthless battle other than a harmless way to raise six girls all younger than five.

"Yes, we're going to have to raise them." The supposedly-fearless leader took a deep breath before continuing. "And yes, we're going to have relearn how to 'play' games."

Beast Boy and Cyborg burst out laughing at this remark. Their friends stared at them apprehensively. "You mean 'learning' for you, Robin!" Cyborg taunted.

"Yah!" Beast Boy snickered. "I have trouble picturing you playing Kick-the-Can or Red Rover!"

Robin glared at his hysterical teammates. "I have before, I'll let you know." This just made the twosome hoot even harder. They were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their cheeks and they were holding their aching sides.

Suddenly, Raven stood up and whacked the uproarious boys' heads together. She received several groans and outcries from her apparently short temper.

"Now, you listen here." Both boys nodded vigorously. "However humorous Robin's weaknesses may seem to you." Robin glowered at her for that statement. "We are here to establish some sort of order for the next few days so we can get used to the idea of having children around." The gothic girl now had Cyborg and Beast Boy's undivided attention. "You WILL behave accordingly until this meeting is over or so-God-help-you I WILL throw you out several windows and perhaps cram your idiotic heads into the same, small pickle jar!" More frantic nodding was quickly followed by this mention of bodily pain and promised violence. "Good, now let's get down to business."

"Very well," Robin declared as he placed a bulky, light creamy colored folder in the very center of the table. "These are the children's files. We're going to have to fill out a small portion of them but nothing of immense size."

"Okay", Cyborg sighed. "Ya' wanna pass 'em 'round or what?"

Robin smiled, and proceeded to read aloud a seemingly-randomly chosen pile of manuscript. The teens had a lot to read, so the sooner they began the sooner they could begin the most important decision of their lives. That was the naming and, perhaps, the christening of the quadruplets.

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Nice enough ending, don't you think? I didn't want this one to be as long as the preceding two, so I came up with this.

And again, I'm having a bit of trouble thinking up gem names and middle names. Any suggestions would be welcomed with open arms (hint, hint, hint). I'm going to need names soon, so if you don't give your propositions I'm going to have to name them something stupid. Something like Minnie Mowce, or Quinnie Quakkers!

So if you don't want that to happen, better review. Okay, enough of that. This calls for desperate measures. PLEASE help me out, I'm begging you guys! You can't leave me like this!

And I will try, TRY to update more often. No promises of course, internet doesn't come cheap you know.

JA


	7. Of Baby Books and Such

**Parenthood**

Uhn, morning readers (massages forehead). Here's an extra chapter I added just on the spur of the moment.

Good reading to you. Please review. Feel free to criticize, compliment, blah, blah, blah and all the rest.

NOW LET ME GET SOME **SLEEP**!

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**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids**

**Of Baby Books and Such**

"Amethyst Jane Blank", Robin read. There was the scratching sound made by a pencil before he continued. "Amethyst Jane Gem, age four, birth date: August twenty-sixth. Hair color: blonde, eye color: blue, height: three feet and four inches, weight: thirty-four pounds and two ounces." The Boy Wonder shuffled through the pages a few times before saying "The rest are all documents. Birth certificate, doctor notes, and things like that."

"August twenty-sixth?" Cyborg interrupted. "Cool, soon it'll be her birthday."

Robin nodded weakly as Raven took another pile of papers from the folder. She marked something down on the top paper and began reading.

"Emerald Page Gem, age two, birth date: August nineteenth. Hair color: blonde, eye color: blue, height: two feet and three inches, weight: eighteen pounds and thirteen ounces." Raven scanned the following page. "Several certificates, like Robin said. Things we'll probably need to send them to school." A number of interesting things happened all at once at this point.

Robin—who had decided to take a sip of his presently, untouched Coke—choked on his drop of soda. Beast Boy—who had just taken a relatively large gulp of his drink—coughed and gagged on his mouthful. And the Titans got a free soda bath, courtesy of Cyborg.

"School!" a certain changeling all but screamed. "What do you mean by school?"

Raven looked down her nose at him. "I mean the place where young people attend to learn subjects such as Math, Grammar, Science, and other things. The place you clearly never went to."

Beast Boy glared at her and said through gritted teeth "I know what 'school' is."

"Really?" the Goth feigned astonishment. "I had no idea."

"You know what I meant."

Sensing a fight brewing, Cyborg quickly intercepted the two hotheads by loudly pronouncing "She said that because it'll be Emerald's fifth birthday soon."

"You mean Amethyst" Robin corrected.

"Yeah, that's right." The cybernetic teen thought for a moment. "This's gonna be confusing, having six little kids running around."

"Yeah" Beast Boy agreed, temporarily forgetting his feud with Raven. "Not to mention that four of them are identical quadruplets."

"But no pressure" Robin spoke sarcastically.

"Right" Cyborg nodded uneasily. "No pressure."

For a time there was an almost absolute silence. No one spoke, no one moved, it seemed as if no one even breathed. There was only the reading of that heavy folder. Finally the silence was shattered by a question that no one wanted to voice, a question that might have been harder to answer than ask. But I'll leave the ultimate decision for you.

"What are their names?" Poor Cyborg, it was his duty to inform his friends that they had infants under their care that had been left unnamed for four days now. How he wished he didn't have to be the one to have to acknowledge the presence of that sentence and say it aloud. But what else could he do?

"Um", it was turning into one of those rare occasions where Robin was at an absolute loss for words. As it turned out, it was Starfire who answered the hell-bound inquiry.

"I have prepared greatly for this dilemma" she declared clearly. "So I have obtained several books that are to aid us in our search." When the alien had finished, her friends looked at her as if they had never heard anything that had had more sense before.

"That sounds good" Cyborg approved.

"Certainly a lot easier than sitting here thinking up names" Robin commented.

"Let's just get this over with" Raven droned.

"Very well" Starfire chimed happily as she picked up a pile of six or so paperback books. "We shall each study a volume and write down a name that appears appropriate."

"Okay" Beast Boy pulled a pale blue book off the top of the stack. "Might as well start." The changeling opened his chosen book to the A's and began scanning.

Cyborg just shook his head out his small, green friend. "How can you do that?"

Beast Boy looked up, confused. "Do what?"

"That" the metallic teen pointed to the book Beast Boy had all-too-willingly started reading. He himself picked up a baby name book also. "How can you just sit down and start reading that thing as if it doesn't hold the way our entire lifestyle is going to change?"

The shapeshifter stopped and considered his friend's question. "I don't really know" and began scanning again. Shaking their heads in disbelief and wonderment, Raven, Robin, and Cyborg quickly followed Beast Boy's and Starfire's example.

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Was this good? Am I still out of character? Tell me what you think.

I'm going to try to keep all my chapters around this length, to make all of you happy and to keep you reviewing.

And I still need some good names. My threat still stands. Please! Pretty please with a cheery on top (gives a puppy pout).

JA


	8. Names A to Z

**Parenthood**

WOW! Reviews from heaven! Here're my replies.

Now that that's over, down to business.

This is the chapter where the Titans choose names. Here is a list that came from kind-hearted reviewers who care about this story. Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 (Wow, that's a lot!):

**Starjadenight**: Okay! Your wish is my command!

**Guardian of Azarath**

(4) Sorry about that. I went over it several times, but I guess I missed a few. Thanks for letting me know and thanks for the praise. Hope to hear you again this chapter.

(5) A lot, my dear friend, the answer is: a lot. In my eyes, all social workers are evil, and by the time Part Two is over the Titans will see things my way too.

(7) Actually, no. I want the Titans to see that they are in this together, for better or worse.

**Beast Girl 433**

(6) That's a good idea, I'll think on it. Thanks for you're review.

(7) Oh, thank you! These are a lot! I didn't even know half of these existed! Thanks for coming and helping me out.

**acosta perez jose ramiro**: Hmm, I like Obsidian. Thank you for the praise.

**silverxpearls**: I like Aquamarine and Cyan. Cyan is a blue stone, right? Anyway, thanks for reviewing.

**lil-c-girl12218**: Thank you from the deepest depths of my heart for that statement! I've been worried so LONG that I was out of character! Thanks for the names and, once the quads are named, I'll update. Hopefully, it won't take long. Thanks again.

**Esplodin' Ookami**: Cool name! Thanks for reading and reviewing and for the names too. Cinnabar sounds rather nice, like sweet cinnamon.

**silverxpearls**

(4) Thanks!

(5) Hear you loud and clear.

**Mr. Nozzers**: Ooo, those ARE pretty! Though I think you're right about Lapis Lazuli. Thanks for the heads-up too.

**deadinside72**

(6) Sienna is pretty and sounds exotic, though I think Robin would label it "too flashy".

(7) I'll try my best!

**Mortal Guardian**

(5) Thanks!

(6) Nope, they're in it together. Nothing else, though I might hint at that.

**Batgirl435**: Violan, now THERE'S something that sounds cool, but a little to strange for what I'm looking for. Much oblige though.

Okay, I'm FINALLY through answering reviews. Onward men! And women.

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**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids**

**Names A to Z**

"Azalea, is that good?" Beast Boy asked around the table. "Or what?"

"Oooh!" cooed Starfire. "That is quite nice!"

"No" Robin frowned over the top of his small, white paperback. "Something that's short and simple and not too flashy."

"Azalea's flashy?"

"Yes."

"Hey, here's something that fits ya' bill" Cyborg exclaimed after several seconds of silence. "Mirra!"

"Reminds me of 'Mirror, Mirror on the wall" Beast Boy voiced his opinion.

"What, where did that come from?" the robotic teen asked his smaller teammate.

"It could be a bad omen" the changeling insisted. "She could turn out to be conceited or something, always looking in the mirror."

Raven looked over at him saying "I used to think you were brainless, but not anymore." Beast Boy grinned, but his glee didn't last long. "Now I know you don't have a brain." His smirk turned into a glare quickly. Raven had that affect on him.

"Superstition isn't going to get us anywhere" was all the leader had to say on the matter.

So, with two of them grumbling and grouching, the team went back to riffling through the pages of their baby name books.

"I like this one" Robin spoke. "Terry, it's short and simple."

"Too normal in my opinion", Beast Boy proclaimed. Robin shrugged, but Raven filled in his silence.

"You say that as if you had an opinion." The green boy let the remark slide when he found both Cyborg and Robin exchanging glares.

"Personally, I wouldn't mind having all six of 'em named after some rocks" came Cyborg's statement from behind his book.

"I enjoy this term amazingly" announced Starfire, pointing at an excerpt in her book. "It is Ruby. Yet another subterranean material used to refer to a small child, yes?"

"That's right, Star" Robin praised the alien girl. "Sounds nice too, what do you guys think?" He looked around the table.

"Yeah" Beast Boy agreed eagerly. "I like it a lot."

"For once Beast Boy and I are in complete agreement" Raven drawled. "It sounds very nice, Ruby Gem. Very nice indeed."

"If ya'll like it I like it" Cyborg spoke happily. He seemed on the verge of raising his Coke glass in a toast.

Then, as if he had just remembered it, Beast Boy bemoaned rather dismally "One down, three to go."

Everyone moaned at this statement. Even the great Robin could not contain a very un-Robin-like groan.

"This is just like hero-work" Cyborg muttered after a few minutes of hapless searching. "Just when we finish one there's another ready."

"That's where you're wrong my friend" Beast Boy contradicted from the opposite side of the table. "This is a lot harder than fighting villains and such."

"Hmm" Raven peered at a certain selection in her chosen book-of-doom. "I find this one rather interesting." Her friends glanced over to her. "It's Aquamarine and it's another gemstone."

"That is cool sounding" Beast Boy murmured.

"Makes me picture the color blue" Cyborg informed. Robin and Starfire each nodded their agreement but chose to say nothing.

Once the name was written down with the first the team went back to their books. "Tina", "Marilyn", "Jackie", and "Sierra" were passed up as too ordinary. "Jamaica", "Yvette", "Georgette", and "Isabella" were labeled as too flashy. And these were thought of as too strange: "Kinia", "Silainia", "Quinalia", and "Poshine".

But after a time they found five more very good discoveries. The discoveries were all gemstones: "Jasper", "Obsidian", "Ruby", "Halite", and "Chrysocolla". They were some difficult choices, but the Titans were just glad to be down to four names instead of five books.

In the end they decided to name the babies by the color of the stone on the small bracelets Starfire had planned on giving to the infants: blood red, sea blue, shiny black and bright yellow. So the names turned out to be—in order according to their numbered birth—Ruby Kai, Aquamarine Eve, Obsidian Will, and Jasper Lee, and they all ended in Gem. Not surprising really, if you think about it.

As the teens were celebrating with accomplishment of one of their hardest tasks ever, two small voices were heard.

"When's lunch?"

"Hammy-doh!"

&&&&

That's all there is for this chapter. Hope you liked it. I considered all the names I was given and those above are what I chose.

I want to thank all my loyal reviewers, and newcomers, for their help and suggestions. So, thank you!

Oh, and just so you know _hammy-doh_ is a word my little sisters came up with when they were almost two. It's a baby word for food. It was upgraded to 'Hammy' when they turned three. It's pronounced just like it's spelled, (hăm-mē-dǒ). And _Kai_ is pronounced (kī).

I'll be using a lot of baby words here, but don't fret. I'll include pronunciations and meanings at the end of the chapter when a new word is mentioned. And if you have younger siblings or kids that have words for different stuff, speak up in your reviews, and I just might include it. You never know for sure. Thank you.

Reviews! I know I've got a lot, but I'm just reminding you: Don't leave without giving a review first! C'mon you critics! I'm sure you can think of SOMETHING to criticize me about! ANYTHING! C'mon people!

JA


	9. Meeting Ama and Emmy

**Parenthood**

Hello, lovely people who bring reviews!

I have just been informed that I might be reported if I continue to reply to my reviews via the current chapter. So I will answer all messages as soon as I read them, and just shout out the names of the persona. Thank you.

Now, I know you've been wondering what the next chapter will be about. So here it is!

Enjoy! And as a way of saying "thank you", please review.

&&&&

**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids**

**Meeting Ama and Emmy**

"…" Nothing was said as the Titans turned around to face who had spoken.

The two eldest of the Gem girls were standing in the doorway. The older held her head up properly and stared at the teens innocently, while her younger sister ran straight up to Robin and jumped onto his lap.

"Auw you gonna be my Daddy?" the little girl asked curiously. "Huh? Huh? Auw you? Auw you? Auw you?"

"Uh", Robin looked around at his team, his face screaming to them what his voice could not: _Help me, PLEASE!_ His teammates just smirked at him.

"Um, what's your name?" the stunned leader finally stuttered.

"That's Emerald" spoke the older girl, still standing in front of the sliding door. "I'm Amethyst."

"We know" Raven answered, her usual calm returning faster to her than the others.

"Why'd he ask?" No one bothered to answer, as the teens were focusing on how to deal with this new development.

Starfire was next to respond. "I welcome you joyously, young Amethyst!" and she hugged the girl tightly. Then the alien then began introducing everyone in the room. "The one in the mask is Robin. The girl in the blue cloak is called Raven. This is Cyborg, and the green boy is called Beast Boy." She pointed at each person as she spoke. Amethyst ogled at the Beast Boy's skin and his ears drooped timidly under the girl's gaze.

Now Cyborg spoke "We call the green kid BB, though." Amethyst nodded, still staring.

"We were unsure of which color to apply to the encasings of your room so we simply left it white." She brought Amethyst to the table as she spoke and sat her down on her lap. "What is your favorite color?"

Amethyst, who was shocked by Starfire's energetic and talkative ways, was momentarily stupefied into silence. A blessed thing that was, as the Titans were to soon discover.

"Pink!" Emerald answered for her sister cheerily. "Yellow!" and the Titans took in her rumpled yellow shirt and skirt, and took that that one word meant the littler girl's favorite color was yellow.

Amethyst seemed to gain use of her tongue and began speaking once again. "I'm called Ama, and Emerald's Emmy."

The teens nodded. "If that's what you wanna be called" shrugged Cyborg. "I don't mind." Amethyst (Ama) nodded her head, her pale bangs shaking.

"Hammy do?" Emmy looked back at Robin. Somehow that little phrase sounded like a question, though Robin did not understand what the little girl could be asking.

"Uh—" Thankfully, Ama intercepted with a translation.

"That means she wants lunch."

"Oh" was all that was said.

Then "Well, best start lunch then" and Cyborg stood up and began rummaging through the fridge.

"Where's the bathroom?" Ama asked neatly.

"Down the hall" Beast Boy answered, pointing towards the door. "Why?"

Ama took Emmy's small hand and led her to the door, saying "We need to wazh up."

"I will assist you" and Starfire headed after the girls. That left Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven the ones still sitting at the table.

"Is it just me" the changeling began. "Or is Ama smarter than she looks?" The two birds sitting with him just shrugged unknowingly.

------

"Lunch!" Cyborg called. "Tuna fish sandwiches, salad, and pudding, a hearty meal for the new kids' first day."

"Tuna?" inquired Ama as she peered between the slices of white bread at the pale pink substance. "Are you sure it's sanitary?" She glanced up at Cyborg who had the appearance of someone who was just hit with a ton of bricks. "It looks queszionable to me." Emmy snorted into her cup of milk.

Robin and Raven looked over at Beast Boy, both their faces baring identical looks of what can only be described as shock. The stares plainly read: _The answer to your question is yes, she is smarter than she looks_.

"You might be used to just the tuna" Cyborg suggested reasonably. "But I add pickles, onions, and mayonnaise with mine."

"Definitely unsanitary" was the only response.

Those poor Titans, if only they knew what the next few days would hold. If only they could see into the future, then they might have had the chance to correct the mistakes they were sure to make otherwise. Alas, they do not have that psychic perception and they did not know what the future would hold.

They could only learn through the method of trial-and-error, so they made many mistakes that first week of parenthood. After all, '_to err is human_', it doesn't matter that one of the Titans is half-demon, another is half-robot, and another is part animal, and yet another is completely alien to this planet. People make mistakes, and the Titans would learn that lesson thoroughly before the week was through.

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I promised that this chapter would bring Amethyst's and Emerald's personalities, and it does. Not as much as I wanted it, but I couldn't think of anything else to put in.

In case you were wondering, Ama cannot pronounce the 'sh' so she says 'zh, and Emmy cannot pronounce her r's instead she says 'w'.

If you would be so kind as to supply a review or two, that would be most welcome. And if you have any questions about Ama and/or Emmy, feel free to ask me and I will answer them to the best of my advantage.

Oh, and also I have removed the original _Parenthood_ and re-uploaded it. Sorry, but I had to make some changes to the original.

Thank you.

JA


	10. The Chess Game

**Parenthood**

OH MY GOD! Where have all my reviewers gone! I only got FIVE! Oh this is TERRIBLE! Well, enough lamented. I've got reviews from:

**silverxpearls**

**samuraigurl1213**

**crazylittlestorywriter** Welcome to the tale. I hope you return.

**acosta perez jose ramiro**

Thank you guys! You mean a lot.

&&&&

**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids**

**The Chess Game**

"I've never met anyone like Ama" Cyborg muttered as he, Beast Boy and Raven watched as the four-year-old challenged Robin to a game of chess. It was sometime before dinner, just two hours left.

"Can't right now" Robin answered, his eyes glued to the computer screen. "I'm unto…" It was then that the leader found five pairs of eyes staring at him expectantly. "Why not?"

"Yeah!"

"Wow", Beast Boy said, astonishment sounding in his voice. "I think she just behaved like a normal four-year-old." Alas, his observation was incorrect, as Ama immediately began instructing Robin on the art of chess.

"I don't think your bizhop zhould go there" she lecture, pointing at her queen. Robin just cocked an eyebrow at her. "You've been warned."

"Fwy him!" her sister cheered her. Then Emmy began dancing around Robin chanting in an annoyingly high voice "You di-ie! You di-ie! You di-ie!"

A few short minutes later Robin was staring at the board, his mouth hanging down low enough to be a narrow doorway. He had been check-mated. Emmy took great delight in his shocked expression. "Tode eww!" she taunted.

"Another?" Ama gestured Robin to the chessboard.

"Sorry, but I've got work to do" Robin excused himself back to the computer console.

"Anyone?" the little girl asked as she looked around at the other members of the team.

"I will" Beast Boy volunteered. Even Robin couldn't help but to look up and watch the second game. Clueless Beast Boy was going to take on obviously-smart Ama.

The pieces were set up. Ama claimed white and Beast Boy was stuck with black. Ama's first move was g7 to g6, the pawn in front of the queenside knight was placed one square ahead of its original position. Beast Boy's was d2 to d4, the pawn directly in front of his queen moved ahead two squares. Emmy was dancing all around Beast Boy and laughing about how he was gonna end up just like "Uncky Wobeen".

And that's how it went for a few minutes, the teens whispered among their little group, Emmy chanted her little tunes, and neither black nor white took any of their opponent's pieces. That is until Beast Boy moved from b2 to b4 and Ama moved her bishop from g7 to a1 to take his castle. She grinned at first blood. He smiled in a secretive kind of way and the game continued.

Beast Boy took second blood when he took the white-square bishop that had taken his castle. Ama pursed her lips and took his king-side knight. There was no more talking now, for the game was beginning to get interesting.

Then Ama announced "Your king's in check" and she pointed to her remaining bishop.

Beast Boy deposed of the bishop with his second knight. "Now he's not."

The four-year-old developed a frown on her small face as she studied the board. After a long moment of indecision, she moved her queen three spaces to the left diagonally from the black king. "Check" she said with an air.

Now, Beast Boy had three choices to get out of the check: he could move his bishop in-front of his king to intercept the white queen's path, he could move his remaining castle from its place on the opposite end of board to take the queen, or he simply move the king out of range of the white queen. He chose to use his bishop.

"I'm out of the check" he told the little girl.

"I know that", she pouted.

"But you're not" the green teen finished. Ama studied the board in confusion. "I think its check—", Ama gasped, "—And mate." Everyone's mouths dropped to the floor.

Emmy gazed up at Beast Boy with awe and respect in her eyes. "How you do that?" she asked in amazement.

He looked over at Ama who was still scrutinizing the chess board, moving her king this way and that. She finally slumped back in her chair with a pout on her face. She peered up at him, waiting for an answer to her sister's question. Everyone was.

"Well" Beast Boy began putting the pieces back. "A lot of people know about the queen sacrifice, and many of them can set it up right." He started in on the white pieces. "But most people who know about that move don't know how to block it."

Ama bowed her head. "It easier to learn a move than it is to block it." Beast Boy looked Ama up and down, then nodded in approval. "But you've got potential. If you want, I can show you how to recognize different moves, perform them, and block them." Amethyst nodded eagerly.

"Yes, yes!" then she composed herself. "Please teach me." Beast Boy laughed and reset the game.

"Okay, remember when you took my castle…" Emmy watched rapturously. Robin, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg went over to the kitchen part of the room.

"Ever knew Beast Boy could play chess?" Robin asked incredulously.

Raven looked over at the Boy Wonder with her patented Raven-look and replied dryly "I didn't even know Beast Boy could recognize a chess PIECE."

&&&&

There you go, chapter ten up and running (Hey come back here!).

This chapter is more of a filler-type, a break between brainstorms. The next chapter will be a little more exciting.

See ya' next time on Parenthood: A Little Family Trouble. When Beast Boy says:

"_Psychic perception runs in my family."_

I wonder what that means.

I am also in dire need of information: on different psychic powers and Jinx, because I'm doing a CyJinx pairing.

I haven't watched a lot of Jinx episodes, so I need to know how she talks, if she has any habits, how she walks, what her room looks like, etcetera.

JA


	11. A Little Family Trouble

**Parenthood**

Aloha, friends! And welcome to the eleventh chapter of Parenthood! Are you having a good time reading thus far? Great! Keep reading!

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**Part Two: Kids, Kids, and More Kids**

**A Little Family Trouble**

_It would now be a good idea to describe the personalities of Ama and Emmy._

_Ama was a genius, no joke or exaggeration. Ama loved to play chess, checkers, and other games that had good tactical lessons. Among her favorite was Risk: The Game of Global Domination. But she was also a four-year-old-going-on-five at heart. Her favorite show of all time was _Telytubbies_, and she couldn't resist playing with dolls. The Titans the young Amethyst most resembled were Robin and Starfire._

_Now we come to the elusive Emmy. In her one day with the Titans she had created names for all of them. Robin was 'Uncky Wobeen' or 'Wobby'. Starfire was called 'Staw', and Cyborg was 'Cy'. Emmy caught on that when Cyborg said 'BB' he was referring to Beast Boy, so she called him that as well. And Raven, to the gothic teen's eternal annoyance and embarrassment, was known to Emmy as 'Wae-Wae'. Emmy was a jolly soul; she found bright happiness in the darkest corners. But Emmy was a girl of split personas; she was also a fierce fighter and could be very stubborn. The Titans little Emerald most resembled were Beast Boy and Cyborg._

_Now, we have gone many a page without once mentioning the infant quads. We now shall. It began just after dinner, when the Titans were about to put the infants down for the night…_

------

"How do you did you deal with KIDS?" a cybernetic teen asked his gothic teammate.

Raven peered coolly over at Cyborg before saying "Patience, lots of patience." She looked back at her book, considered something, and turned her gaze back to Cyborg and said "And meditation, lots of that too. I don't think I've ever meditated so much." Raven returned to her book.

"Great" Cyborg muttered over in Raven's direction. "Now I REALLY have faith in us to survive this."

"It could have been worse" Robin interjected. Everyone looked over at him with the same look on their faces.

"How, exactly?" the goth inquired.

"Well" Robin rubbed his chin in thought. "We could have had to raise two sets of quadruplets." Everyone was now looking at him sternly.

"Don't even think that" Cyborg warned.

"Yeah" Beast Boy agreed. "That's like 'Be careful what you wish for'." Robin frowned disbelievingly at his team but said nothing more.

Suddenly, a shriek came from the nursery room. The teens looked at one another in astonishment for a moment, and then they ran down the hall.

Starfire got there first and blasted the door open. Then she swooped in to see what was attacking.

When the others arrived, they could not believe the sight that met their eyes. Toys, soft books, blankets, bottles, everything was flying around the room in a circular pattern. Ama was at the back of the room pressed against the wall and staring up at the wild disaster in fear and astonishment. She had two of the quads near her. Emmy was bouncing around trying to get her toys down again. In the middle of this aerial mess was the other two quads, and one was on her back crying loudly.

Starfire was trying to fly through the tornado to get to the babies, but she couldn't. Raven teleported into and came back with the infants. The sentimental alien scooped the crying child into her arms and cuddled her close whispering. The baby stopped crying…

And everything fell to the ground. Emmy ran to a large white-and-brown stuffed dog and hugged it close. The dog was nearly as big as she was.

"Was that just what I thought it was?" Raven was the first to speak; her voice was not in its usual ice-queen mode.

"I don't know" Robin answered her, staring at the nursery with wide eyes.

"I can't believe THIS" Cyborg complained. "I finally get the room fixed up and these kids just waltz in and…it looks like a bomb went off!"

As the cybernetic teen ranted about the condition of the nursery Beast Boy whispered "This is not good" and Raven heard him.

Raven rounded on him. "What was that?" Beast Boy just stared at the newly messed-up room and the infant now sleeping soundly in Starfire's arms.

"Beast Boy" and the changeling's head swiveled to face the half-demon. "What did you say?" He twitched.

Beast Boy took a deep breath and told her "Psychic perception runs in my family." Now, he did not say that line very loudly but it might as well have been spoken through a mega-phone. It stopped Robin's staring and Cyborg's shouting, at least for that instance. Then all Hell broke loose.

"WHAT!" the previously mentioned half-robot screamed. "What's that supposed to mean? Don't tell me we have another RAVEN around!"

Beast Boy's face took on a rare look of calm. "No, it doesn't. It means that a few of these kids, at least Jasper," he gestured to the stirring infant Starfire was holding. "Have psychic powers."

"Mini-Ravens!" his large friend moaned. At least before he met Raven's glare, then he shut up.

"Do you know if any of the others have powers?" Robin asked his small teammate.

Beast Boy gazed around at the other little Gems. Ama look very shaken up at what had just happened. The Titans had not shown the kids their powers yet. Emmy was holding her little sister Ruby in her lap, and Aquamarine and Obsidian were giggling as they rolled around on thick pink carpet.

"I don't really know." The shapeshifter shrugged to his leader. "Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Well" Cyborg said before he yawned. "You guys can wait and see all ya' want, but I'm off to bed. Night." He'd gone two steps before Starfire dragged him back.

"We must first see to it that the children have had the tucking-in of bed" she concurred while peering down lovingly at Jasper. The baby, now fully awake, gurgled happily.

Robin sighed and picked Obsidian off the floor, and placed her carefully in one of the two cribs. She was soon joined by Ruby whom Raven tucked in. Cyborg easily picked Ama up and deposited her in her small cot, while Starfire lovingly tucked in Jasper and Aquamarine. Robin, Raven, and Cyborg went about this business saying few words. Starfire hummed a tune and whispered 'good-night' to the gems, but that was it. Beast Boy was the only one who seemed to enjoy this particular chore of parenthood.

The changeling scooped up Emmy, catching her off guard, and tickling her dropped her on her bed. That was the time in which Emmy demanded "Tell me a stoewy."

Ama quieted instantly, and even the quads did, as if they understood what supposed to happen next.

"Sorry" Beast Boy apologized, shrugging. "I don't know any stories."

"Cindawella" Emmy pressed. The green teen shook his head.

"Sleeping Beauty?" Ama was giving suggestions now.

"Sorry, but no."

"Snow White?" the little two-year-old inquired. Astonishment was visible in her voice and on her face as, once again, Beast Boy shook his head.

Robin rubbed the back of his neck, trying to remember the fairy-tales of his childhood, so was Cyborg. Raven did nothing, and Starfire was wondering what a 'fairy-tale' was. Then Beast Boy spoke again.

"But I do know one about a dragon."

"Dwagon?" Emmy repeated slowly. Ama looked skeptical.

"Yep, would you like to hear that one?"

Ama thought for a moment then nodded. Emmy was bouncing up and down and clapping her hands in glee.

------

_That night, everyone in the Tower went to bed with smiles on their faces. All were thinking of the brave girl Violet and the wise dragon Yakula. One by one everyone was sold to Sleep, and Emmy and Ama fell into the ancient crocodile tale of the dragons, the lords of the sky._

&&&&

Hope you liked it. Farewell for now.

JA


	12. An Annoying Author's Note

I'm very sorry for this unfortunate incident, but I am temporarily dropping **Parenthood**. We are having technical difficulties with this story at the present time. I shall try my best to update, but they will be rather randomly put up. As I said before, I'm very sorry.

I do have good news though! I will not disappear completely from the web. And I shall use this troubling time to post another story.

I will allow anyone to protest or complain under the given circumstances, and there will be no hard feelings for that.

Thank you for your time.

JadeAshes (JA)


	13. The First of a Series of Scary Nights

**Parenthood**

I'm Ba-ack! Okay, you may not be so thrilled to see me, but I'm glad you showed up for chapter thirteen (it is **SO** good I didn't put this up on Halloween). Means a lot to me.

And for all of you who read _Roommates_, do not fret, I am not, repeat **NOT**, putting that one on hold. I enjoy writing that one too much!

As always, I would love your ideas, so don't hesitate to bring 'em in. I love when you guys do that because it shows me you actually like this story. Not to mention it allows me to cheat in the thinking-up-ideas department (insert sneaky giggle).

Now, we left off at the end of day one, but there was nothing of that night…

&&&&

**The First of a Series of Scary Nights** (title says it all, don't you think)

Robin fell into his bed. It was one of those rare nights where he would actually sleep instead of staying up staring rapturously at the glowing screen of the work computer. He had just managed to begin falling under sleep's spell when a peculiar sound reached him. Just as he was about to board the Boat of Dreams too, what a disappointment.

"Waaaaaaahhhh!" again came the sound.

_What is that?_ Robin thought, opening his eyes. He pushed off his thick, red blanket and followed the sound out his door. When he was half-way down the hallway he recognized the sound as a baby's cry. He lengthened his stride and reached the nursery within minutes.

Once the door was opened the sound of infant wailing dominated the hallway. Robin quickly entered, he found that one other Titan had heard the cries and had responded. Beast boy was trying to shush Obsidian and Aquamarine while rocking Jasper and holding Ruby. He had a look of horror and desperation on his small green face as he juggled the little girls, but it quickly transformed into relief when he saw the leader. Emmy and Ama had somehow managed ignore the quads' cries and to stay under the great, fluffy cape of Sleep, luckies.

Robin took Obsidian and Aquamarine off the changeling's hands and tried his very best to make them go to sleep. After a few minutes though what he really wanted to do was spray all four of them with sleeping gas and go back to bed. But he managed to get the better of that thought and refrain himself, probably with a thought of the evil social worker.

Starfire was the next Titan to respond to the howls of the young infants. The difference between her reaction and the boys' was she instantly picked up a baby and began crooning a soft song into the child's ear (okay, we all now how Starfire sings, but let's use our imaginations for a few moments and pretend it was a _soft_ song).

Soon the other Titans, having heard the cries when Robin had opened the door to the rest of the poor Tower's ears, responded despairingly. Raven rocked Obsidian and Beast Boy cuddled Ruby. Robin held Aquamarine with a sort of lost look on his pale skinned face, poor guy. Starfire, after laying Jasper to bed, took little Aqua from him. So Robin began helping Cyborg pick up the blankets and toys the youngest (for those of you who can't remember that's Jasper, and don't feel bad, I had to review the birth order too) had managed to throw around with her telekinetic powers.

------

Finally, at about eleven-thirty, the quads were asleep again and the Titans were dragging themselves out into the hall.

"Please, stay asleep" Beast Boy whispered to the infants as he shut the door behind him.

"I think we'll have to take turns if this continues tomorrow night", Robin stated to his tired team. "We'll have three groups, Beast Boy and I, Cyborg and Raven, and Starfire will put them to sleep on her own because she seems to be the best at this thing."

Everyone else nodded understandment. Then the Titan team hauled themselves back into bed. And that's where everyone fell back into the loving arms of sleep within point two six seconds. That's got to be a record!

------

**11:53**

Robin was in the middle of a dreamless sleep when there came a knocking at his titanium door. _No, no, no, no, no…_ But he riled himself from the depths of his bed and crawled towards the entrance way to the hall. There he found Beast Boy with a desperate expression on his face. The _no_'s continued in the leader's regularly organized mind.

The green shapeshifter said one line. "They're awake again."

Robin nodded wearily and proceeded to lead the way to the nursery.

Being the one leading, Robin received the grand award of opening the door and getting the first glance at chaos incarnated. Had it been any other person other than a Titan, their head would have probably been impaled and/or decapitated by the baby bottle that came flying through the doorway point three seconds (and that's rounded from .2566746…) after the door was opened. But don't fret, Robin, being Robin, caught the dangerous identified flying object.

_Jasper, why does it have to be Jasper?_ the poor leader thought as he sat the un-opened bottle back on the shelf among its peers.

Robin's partner was thinking along similar lines. _It's Jasper, on our turn_,thought Beast Boy. _Somebody up there hates us._ Then, seeing Ama and Emmy sleeping soundly, _How do they _do_ that?_

The Gods may have hated the two male Titans, but at the same time they must have had pity on their souls because only two of the quads were crying, Aqua and Jasper.

Robin tried to calm the crying-but-still-sleeping Aqua down, for she was obviously having a nightmare. She was tossing all over the bed, smacking her older sister Ruby as she did so, and flailing her small limbs everywhere. Somehow Ruby managed to stay in dreamland. How? Not sure. He finally resorted to rocking Aqua back to a sound sleep.

Beast Boy was having a harder time getting Jasper to go back to sleep, as he had to dodge flying objects as he did so. He tried rocking her, giving her a bottle of milk formula, and even checking her diaper! At last, she went to sleep on her own as her sister's cries lowered. The changeling put her in her crib beside Obsidian and leaned tiredly against the colorless wall.

Robin was still rocking Aqua as she was quite reluctant to sleep again. Beast Boy gazed at the leader and the infant for a few long seconds before starting to clean up the mess Jasper had managed to create.

As Beast Boy cleansed the room, he couldn't help but wonder what the youngest quadruplet had put the hospital staff through. He celebrated a small chuckle with his mind at that thought.

Robin gently placed the third quadruplet in her shared crib, and joined Beast Boy just inside the doorway. He surprised himself by whispering to the occupants of the silent room. "Goodnight."

"Sleep tight," the shapeshifter added before the door sliced through the air to shut itself.

Then the two boys, having served their time and survived to tell the tale, returned to bed.

------

**12:08**

Raven had heard Robin and Beast Boy go into the nursery when the infants had started up soon after all five of the Titans had put them back to bed the first time. And now she heard them start again. She rose herself from the safety and comfort of her rounded bed, and made her way to her nightly-naps partner's room.

She knocked several times on Cyborg's door, each time not getting a response. She tried calling his name, every time she called louder than the occasion before. Finally the goth entered the robotic teen's room.

Sure enough, Raven found Cyborg sound asleep, making quite a lot of sound himself. The cybernetic Titan was snoring rather loudly, and the half-demon girl had to struggle just to reach his plug-in station, as he kept blowing her back towards the door!

"Cyborg," Raven called his name. As he still slept away, she called louder, trying to hear _herself_ above the storm of snores.

"Cyborg, wake up. It's our turn." She was now reaching the annoyance stage. She shook him violently. Finally, seeing no other option, she telekinetically dragged him from the room and into the nursery.

As the sound of the infants' tears being shed, Cyborg was jolted awake.

"Wasn't me! I didn't do it!" Raven raised her right eyebrow at these statements of pled innocence. Cyborg cleared his throat and looked away from the look of the demon-girl, and instead he turned to face his new foes: one sleep-deprived infant with the potentiality of a professional opera singer.

It was the second-to-youngest, Raven discovered quite rapidly, due to the numbered shirt. It was Obsidian.

But there was another thing that soon came into being in this strange world: fire. As little Obsidian flung her fist at the bed sheet a black mark was left. Raven and Cyborg stared at the small, imperfectly round mark in astonishment and maybe even a little touch of fear.

"So, little Obby can start fires" said Cyborg, with a nod of his head. _Why not?_ he thought. They had a half-demon, an alien, a changeling, a half-robot, and an obsessive karate expert. So, why not a baby who could start fires with her mind? Why not?

"This", Raven muttered. "This just keeps getting better and _better_." She finished her aloud thought with a trail of bitterness and resentment Cyborg thought.

The third-born quadruplet infant struck again and this one left a smoking black mark. And the third was successful in raising a, albeit small, fire. Raven quickly smothered it, fortunately.

And so Raven and Cyborg's turn was spent with the two taking jointed jobs. Raven's maternal instincts kicked in soon so she was rocking Obby (for that was her newly made nick-name). While Cyborg found a towel in the newly-reorganized cabinets and was putting out the fires that appeared here and there, hither and thither, all along the goth's cape.

About half an hour later the little black Gem had fallen asleep among the smoking towel in the hands of the robotic teen and the now-black-dotted-dark-blue of Raven's cloak.

Even though they were swaying on their feet of sleep-deprivation, team two of the nightly watchers found the spare time of approximately seven point three seconds to scribble a chart of the children's powers.

**Name of child** Power

**Ruby Kai Gem** Blank

**Aquamarine Eve Gem** Blank

**Obsidian Will Gem** Starting fires mentally

**Jasper Lee Gem** moving (throwing) things mentally

**Emerald Page Gem** Blank

**Amethyst Jane Gem** Blank

With that taken care of, the cybernetic teen and goth-girl crawled and floated down the hall back to the comfort of their own personalized rooms.

------

**12:57**

Starfire had heard Robin and Beast Boy check on the infants, and a little while later Raven and Cyborg went into the nursery. So that was how the alien princess knew it was her turn when the fresh cries reached her slightly orange-colored ears.

Knowing she was needed in the neighboring corridor, Starfire flew hastily down the hallway and around the corner to the children's room of nursery.

She found that Ruby and Aquamarine were the infants that were awaked in the night. She gathered them both up in her arms and sang them several Earth lullabies she had come across on the Titans' journeys.

Starfire began her singing of the lullabies with _Hush-a-Bye Mountain_. Ruby had quieted somewhat, so she proceeded with the lull of by of the _Twinkling of the Star._

Soon she had both babies quiet, but not yet sleeping. The alien girl tried of her last soft song, _Over the Rainbow_.

_**Somewhere over the rain of bow**_

_**Way up high**_

_**There is a land that I have heard of**_

_**Once in the lull of bye**_

_**Somewhere over the rain of bow**_

_**Skies are blue**_

_**And the dreams that you may dream**_

_**Truly do come true**_

_**Somewhere over the rain of bow**_

_**Birds do fly**_

_**That is where my heart is yearning to be**_

_**But why can I not? Why?**_

Close towards the conclusion of the third verse the two infants were dozing in her arms. Starfire laid them down in their small shared beds, whispering the ending of the song.

_**Why not I?**_

Smiling, the alien floated towards the door, but a paper taped onto the side of the shelving caught her large green eyes. She distinguished Friend Raven's correct handwriting and then recognized the paper as a chart holding the names of the children and their powers.

_Friends Raven and Cyborg must have discovered the power of young Obsidian when they were here_, she thought gazing at that particular line of tidy writing.

Starfire floated out the door and back to her round bed. Once there she thought of the chart before sleeping. _How kind of Cyborg and Raven to announce it in this way, rather than wake our friends!_

And to a place of sweet dreams went the happy teenaged alien.

------

**01:13**

Once again Robin was jarred from the recesses of sleep to find Beast Boy once again stuck with pounding on his door. The tired Boy Wonder answered it, praying to every God (known and unknown) that the changeling might talk instead of announcing what he thought it was.

"It's our turn again."

It was that simple statement that made Robin let a long groan escape from his mouth. How he kept it in the first time is what I would like to know! That information could be useful!

The two boys again made the short journey to the only other room in their corridor, the nursery. They stared together at it for three long seconds before Beast Boy reached out and opened the door.

And the two stared at the very essence of chaos! Jasper was crying while her pillow and blankets were flying in circles above her head. Ruby was screaming her head off, her face bright red with the force. The previously nicknamed Aqua had taken all the blankets from her sister Ruby and had somehow managed to tie them up around the crib's white bars. Obsidian had a white-knuckled grip on the bars that acted as her headboard, and was _burning_ through them!

Both Batman's-former-partner and ex-Doom-Patrol-member began twitching uncontrollably.

That was about the time the two Titan boys noticed the notice taped to the shelves. They saw that the _power_ line had been filled in next to **Obsidian Will Gem**: _starting fires mentally_.

Nothing was said as the boys stepped cautiously into the room, still twitching. They instinctively watched out for flying objects sent their way courtesy of Jasper. Robin made his way to crib two and tried to make Obsidian let go of bars, unbelievably, she did. But that was when he saw that she just started burning up the sheets Jasper hadn't wrapped her mind around. YET.

Beast Boy worked on untangling the blankets of crib one while being pelted with soft-bodied _ABC & 123_ books. Then Ruby decided he wasn't working fast enough and hit him on the head with the baby rattle that landed directly beside her right then.

The boys, having finally succeeded in their mission around dawn, went to bed. But by than that time, neither boy really cared what time it was. All Robin and Beast Boy knew was that they were going to bed and, hopefully, _staying_ in bed.

&&&&

Well, there it is. I know, I know, what a LONG wait! But I hope you thought it was worth it. Probably not, but that's what I hope!

I want you to know I will update as soon as I can. I know what you're thinking, "Yeah, we've heard _that_ one before." But I swear to you, I'm gonna try my _hardest_ to get chapter fourteen up within the week!

Thanks for reading! You've made my day!

This has been the thirteenth chapter of the fan fiction story _Parenthood_. I hope you'll come again soon!

JA


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